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enFourFourTwo's best 100 Premier League matches ever: 10-1Which game will be crowned the greatest in the divisions history?http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/fourfourtwos-best-100-premier-league-matches-ever-10-1
Words:James Maw,Vithushan Ehantharajah,Gary Parkinson, Joe Brewin,Phil Haigh
10. Chelsea 2-2 Tottenham, 02/05/2016
“We don’t want Tottenham to win the Premier League – the fans, the club and the players,” declared a chipper Eden Hazard just over a week before Chelsea’s meeting with Spurs that ultimately decided the 2015/16 title in Leicester’s favour. The Belgian didn’t know it then, but results thereafter set the scene: Tottenham needed to beat the Blues at Stamford Bridge to keep themselves in the race.
At half-time they were looking good for that: goals from Harry Kane and Son Heung-min had the visitors in command, resigning the Leicester players who were gathered at Jamie Vardy’s house to the fact they’d probably have to go again against Everton that weekend.
That was until Chelsea – so consistently hapless in their title defence that season – decided they wouldn’t become an irrelevant footnote of the campaign. Hazard was introduced at half-time and the west Londoners became a different side. They halved the deficit with over half an hour remaining when Gary Cahill lashed in from a corner, and didn’t relinquish the bit between their teeth.
Hazard’s crowning moment came with seven minutes left. With Chelsea very much in the ascendancy their brilliant Belgian – chief among those who’d disappointed during the campaign – curled in a terrific equaliser to send Spurs heads spinning and confirm Leicester as the most unlikely of champions. He’d got his wish after all. JB
9. Newcastle 5-0 Man United, 20/10/1996
Any heavy Manchester United defeat is remembered by fans of the victors, but this loss suffered by the Double winners was so glorious in its magnitude that it was celebrated far more widely than just on Tyneside. Darren Peacock scored the first, his header crossing the line despite the protestations of Peter Schmeichel – who had kept clean sheets in five of his previous nine league games.
David Ginola’s outrageous second set the tone, while Les Ferdinand and Alan Shearer doubled the lead after the break and made Magpies fans believe things couldn't get any better. How wrong they were, as Philippe Albert sealed the deal with a 25-yard lob – not bad for a defender. As Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan said without false deflation: “Undoubtedly, the most enjoyable day I've ever had as a manager.” RS
8. Leicester 3-3 Arsenal, 27/08/1997
Although Arsenal would ultimately go on to win the title in 1997/98, it wasn’t all plain sailing; the Gunners endured a stuttering start to the campaign, including this classic draw at Filbert Street. Dennis Bergkamp was the star of the show, putting the visitors 2-0 up with an hour played. Arsenal were untroubled until Emile Heskey pulled one back late on, before Matt Elliot equalised with what looked to be the final goal of the game in the 93rd minute.
Bergkamp wasn't done, though, finding time to score one of the great Premier League goals as he brought down a cross, beat his man and gloriously slotted the ball past Kasey Keller with the inside of his right foot. But this still wasn'tthe end of the action: the match endured long enough for Foxes skipper Steve Walsh to head home the latest of levellers and earn Leicester a point. PH
Next: Comebacks galore7. Newcastle 4-4 Arsenal, 05/02/2011
Newcastle had been battered black and blue (not black and white, which they presumably wouldn't have minded as much) by the halfway stage of this fixture. Theo Walcott and Johan Djourou put Arsenal two up before the fourth minute, before Robin van Persie grabbed two for himself, sending the Magpies into the dressing room 4-0 down at half-time.
With much lauded No.9 Andy Carroll having just been sold and not replaced, the locals were feeling more than a little restless. But pity the foolish fans who left at the interval, for Alan Pardew’s men had something special in store for the second half.
A moment of pure stupidity from Abou Diaby let the Magpies back in the game; the midfielder was sent off for a foolish shove on Joey Barton, then another push on Kevin Nolan. Two penalties from Barton and a Leon Best strike gave Newcastle a chance, with Arsenal teetering on the brink.
nd then it came, a truly magnificent left-footed volley from the most unlikely of sources, Cheik Tiote. The Ivorian, as stunned as anyone to see the net ripple, ran halfway down the pitch in wild celebration – a jubilance shared by Newcastle’s stunned fans. RS
6. Aston Villa 1-2 Man United, 23/08/1993
Early in the Premier League's second season, the champions visited the runners-up for an evening game that displayed exactly what the competition was capable of: absorbing football played at breakneck speed. Ron Atkinson's hosts went for the jugular from the off, but it was boyhood Villa fan Lee Sharpe who opened the scoring after good work from Ryan Giggs (remember him?) and Paul Ince.
Dalian Atkinson saw off Steve Bruce to level just before the break, and after the oranges Villa again started the stronger, with Dean Saunders going close and Kevin Richardson whacking a half-volley off the post. However, United overcame the absence of the injured talisman Eric Cantona, with Paul Ince stepping up to the plate: his long pass set Giggs free to hit the post, before a slide-rule through-ball allowed Sharpe to coolly net the winner. GP
5. Wigan 3-2 West Ham, 15/05/2011
The result which sent West Ham down with a game to spare was indicative of a particularly poor campaign for the East Londoners. To stand a chance of extending their six-year top-flight run they needed three points at fellow relegation scrappers Wigan and a Fulham win at Birmingham. All looked rosy for Avram Grant’s side for nearly an hour, as both they and Fulham went two goals clear – but where the Cottagers held on to win, the Hammers collapsed into ignominy despite Demba Ba's first-half double.
Charles N’Zogbia took charge to start and finish an inspired Wigan comeback. Twelve minutes into the second half, the Frenchman curled a delightful free-kick into the top corner, before Connor Sammon – thrown on at half-time with Victor Moses by Roberto Martinez – equalised in the 68th minute.
With a draw no use to either side – and neither very good at defending – the two teams exchanged blows like punch-drunk boxers, before N’Zogbia cut in from the right and squeezed a shot under Rob Green in the fourth minute of added time. Wigan got the win, West Ham got that sinking feeling and Avram Grant got the sack. VE
4. Tottenham 3-5 Man United, 01/10/2001
Rarely has that rotten old cliché 'a game of two halves' been a more appropriate way to describe a football match than this momentous Manchester United fightback. Spurs romped into a 3-0 half-time lead thanks to a debut goal from Dean Richards and one each from Les Ferdinand and Christian Ziege, but Sir Alex Ferguson worked his magic in the champions’ dressing room during the break and United returned to the pitch for the second half like a wounded animal.
Andy Cole scored within a minute of the restart and from that moment the tide turned, as Laurent Blanc, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Juan Sebastien Veron and David Beckham transformed Tottenham’s day of ecstasy to one of agony. PH
Next: And the winner is...3. Liverpool 4-3 Newcastle, 03/04/1996
Voted the finest match of the division's first decade, this high-octane humdinger is widely renowned as one of the definitive matches of the Premier League era. Both sides were pushing Manchester United for the title, with the visitors knowing a win would take them level on points with the leaders.
The game started at a frantic pace, with Robbie Fowler giving the Reds an early lead, only for Les Ferdinand and David Ginola to quickly strike back for the Toon. Fowler’s well-taken second put Liverpoollevel early in the second half, but within two minutes Faustino Asprilla had edged Newcastle back in front. With just over 20 minutes to play, Stanley Victor Collymore popped up with another equaliser, and from then on both teams went hell for leather looking for a winner.
It was Liverpool - and Collymore - who got it after a neat passing moving involving veteran duo John Barnes and Ian Rush. Magpies boss Kevin Keegan slumped forward in the dugout to provide one of the Premier League’s most enduring images, before curiously claiming after the final whistle; “I know I should be disappointed, but I’m elated.” JM
2. Arsenal 3-2 Man United, 09/11/1997
A little over a year after Arsene Wenger arrived in north London, the French revolution was really starting to take shape. The Gunners had started the 1997/98 season well, with just one defeat in their first 13 matches, but the visit of champions and league leaders Manchester United to Highbury was by far their sternest test yet.
Arsenal went ahead when an 18-year-old Nicolas Anelka brilliantly blasted the ball past Peter Schmeichel for his first Premier League goal. The lead was doubled before the half-hour mark, when Patrick Vieira brilliantly swept a loose ball back across the Dane's head and into the net. But United fought back in typical fashion, former Tottenham man Teddy Sheringham netting a quickfire double to enrage the locals and level the scores before half-time.
It was those same fans, however, who had the last laugh thanks to David Platt's late header. The win moved Arsenal to within a point of the top, and by May they would be champions for the first time in the Wenger era, sowing the seeds for one of the fiercest rivalries in Premier League history. JM
1. Manchester City 3-2 QPR, 13/05/2012
Top at kick-off on the last day, all Manchester City had to do was beat QPR – managed by former City boss Mark Hughes, who had his own reasons for wanting an unlikely win: not only had he been rather brusquely shoved out for City to hire Roberto Mancini, but the 17th-placed Rs were only two points above the relegation zone.
A tense first half got even nervier when Wayne Rooney's goal put title rivals Manchester United ahead at Sunderland, and although Pablo Zabaleta scored before the break, Djibril Cisse's equaliser early in the second period ramped up the blood pressure. Red-carded Joey Barton then tried to take some City players with him, before Jamie Mackie put the Hoops into an unlikely 66th-minute lead.
City entered the five minutes' added time 2-1 down, but Edin Dzeko's 92nd-minute leveller gave hope; three minutes later, Mario Balotelli's first assist of the season was larruped home by Sergio Aguero. City were champions at the very death. GP
100-91•90-81•80-71•70-61•60-51•50-41•40-31•30-21• 20-11 • 10-1
New features you'd like every day on FourFourTwo.com
featureFri, 09 Dec 2016 13:40:41 +0000Joe Brewin659787 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comMeet Giovanni Simeone: Genoa's Juventus-slaying striker who wants to join his dad at Atletico MadridAdam Digby provides the lowdown on an emerging Argentine talent with a famous fatherAdam Digbyhttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/meet-giovanni-simeone-genoas-juventus-slaying-striker-who-wants-join-his-dad-atletico
The 60-second story
'EMOCIONANTE'. Diego Simeone tweeted just one word – Spanish for “exciting” – all in capital letters, alongside two pictures of men celebrating goals against Juventus. The first was from April 2000 and showed himself racing away at the Stadio delle Alpi, his header having given Lazio a vital three points against the Bianconeri on the way to the Serie A title.
Below was a picture showing his son Giovanni in an almost identical pose, the youngster's own strike having put Genoa ahead against the reigning champions earlier that day. The youngster rifled home a low shot at the second attempt, showing great composure after Gigi Buffon had denied his first effort with a superb save.
Unlike his father, however, the 21-year-old is a striker rather than a tenacious midfielder. So just 10 minutes after opening the scoring he took another chance, this time glancing home a header at the near post in clinical fashion. As much as Diego clearly enjoyed watching his son make a decisive contribution in such a high-profile fixture, the Atletico Madrid boss would also have admired Genoa’s overall performance, which featured relentless pressing and swift counter-attacks.
EMOCIONANTE pic.twitter.com/7Jcz3WW9ar
— Diego Pablo Simeone (@Simeone) November 27, 2016
"I'm happy he’s in Italy," Diego told LaGazzetta dello Sport shortly after Giovanni moved to Genoa in the summer. "He can learn and improve there. It's not easy, but he has the necessary qualities… and good blood in his veins!”
Why you need to know him
The 21-year-old had already made quite an impression having risen through the youth ranks at River Plate and shining during a loan spell at Banfield, where he scored 12 goals in 29 appearances. In 2015 he was also the South American Youth Championship's top scorer with nine net-ripplers which helped Argentina claim the title.
Together those exploits prompted Genoa to hand over €3 million over a year later, in the hope that the forward could provide cover for star man Leonardo Pavoletti as the campaign progressed. Simeone scored twice in some brief early outings, which convinced manager Ivan Juric to field him in place of Pavoletti when the latter was struck down by injury.
The Grifoneboss hasbeen rewarded with some excellent displays, the best of which came against Serie A champions Juventus. His secret appears to be genetic. "His father was a tough guy and I took several elbows off him," former Italy international Alessandro Costacurta remarked on Sky Italia this week. "And I can see that Giovanni is clearly Diego's son by his character."
Strengths
Simeone's most notable asset is his speed –an essential trait in Juric’s system. The striker has shown both excellent acceleration and timing despite his limited opportunities, while also demonstrating a clinical edge in front of goal –he's scored five times and hit the target with an impressive 62 per cent of his attempts so far.
Unsurprisingly, he also has a solid work ethic and a diligent approach whenever his side lose the ball, averaging one tackle and 0.4 interceptions per game despite being deployed exclusively as a central striker.
Weaknesses
While he looks like a solid all-round player, there are various aspects of Simeone’s game that still require work. The Genoa frontman possesses sound technique and skill, but he often finds himself trying to beat one more defender than is necessary, which explains his meagre 27 per cent take-on success rate.
The same is true of his distribution: Simeone averages just 9.3 passes per game, with a third of his efforts failing to find a team-mate. He has created just one scoring chance for his team-mates in 12 appearances to date, despite the fact that Genoa require him to bring others into play up front.
They said...
While a promising young striker and a long-retired midfielder would appear to have little in common, Giovanni has been forced to live with people measuring him against the standards Diego set during his playing days. "He has his father’s hunger and will to win," his team-mate Nicolas Burdisso said recently –but Genoa's coach Juric wants people to stop comparing the two men.
“Simeone is a good player in the area, but with a lot of room for improvement out of it. He runs a lot and we are happy with him,” Juric commented during a post-match interview last month. “However, I would prefer it if people talked more about him and not his father. I don’t think it is an easy comparison for the boy.”
Did you know?
Simeone is proud to represent Argentina at international level despite being born in Madrid and having spent much of his life in Europe, with the family relocating every time Diego swapped clubs. Less than two years after Giovanni's birth the Simeones moved to Milan, then Rome, before Diego's return to Atleti in 2003.
What happens next?
There has been remarkable interest in Simeone Jr. after his brace against Juve (and, quite likely, because of his surname). In recent days, Napoli have reportedly identified him as the man to ease their striking woes following the departure of Gonzalo Higuain and injury to Arkadiusz Milik.
A raft of Premier League clubs have also been mentioned, but the Grifone may instead choose to sell Pavoletti, creating space for Simeone to continue his impressive start at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Given Juric’s ability to guide young players he could well benefit from an extended stay at the club, particularly as his development is still far from complete.
Simeone does, though, have his heart set on a return to his birthplace one day. "I would love to play for Atletico," he told Cadena Serthis week. "Not just because of how the club has treated my father but because of how they have treated our whole family. They are a great club, very humble."
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featureFri, 09 Dec 2016 12:30:26 +0000Greg Lea660686 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comRooney vs Charlton: Whose Manchester United scoring record is better?With Wazza on the verge of equalling the World Cup winners long-standing scoring record at Old Trafford,Mike Holdencompares the two men where their goals mattered mostMike Holdenhttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/rooney-vs-charlton-whose-manchester-united-scoring-record-better
As acceptance of Wayne Rooney’s declining form grows more widespread, the trend for micro-analysing his latest performance has given way to a fresh wave of appreciation for all that he's achieved in his Manchester United career.
For many of his long-standing former colleagues, a large proportion of whom now populate the mainstream media, the suggestion that Rooney’s days might be numbered is an uncomfortable one to bear. Much more palatable is the chance to reflect and see him for the player he was, rather than the player he might have become.
Nobody can say for sure just how long Rooney has left at Old Trafford. Many great players have been written off before, only to then reinvent themselves and return for an Indian summer. However, it’s probably not unreasonable to say –particularly in light of recent off-field incidents –that Rooney might be starting to wrestle with the idea of his own footballing mortality.
No good thing lasts forever, and the United No.10 might soon be inclined to revise his own expectations about being the fulcrum of Jose Mourinho’s team; a player around whom the entire operation revolves.
On the cusp
It's just as well, then, that Rooney finds himself on the verge of becoming United’s all-time record goalscorer. What better way to shift the focus from what you can’t do to what you can? By joining the past and present together, and breaking records that will remain his for at least another generation, he has a means of justifying his presence in the immediate future.
In United’s recent Europa League match against Feyenoord, Rooney broke Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record as the club’s all-time leading goalscorer in European competition. And with it, presumably, came a swell of pride at the reaction from the people he respects most. It could serve as motivation for challenges to come.
Now the Liverpudlian has Sir Bobby Charlton in his sights. His next target is the big one, and it’s so close: Manchester United’s all-time record goalscorer. Ever. One more goal and he draws level, on 249, with arguably the club’s most iconic former player. Two more, and he’s home and hosed.
But how do Charlton and Rooney really compare? If you trawl through the 497 goals they share with a fine-tooth comb, applying a mixture of both statistical and anecdotal analysis, which player has arrived at their total in more impressive fashion? This is what FourFourTwohas boldly set out to discover…
Next: Domestic matters1. League record
Wayne Rooney: 380 apps (179 goals); 1 goal every 2.12 games
Bobby Charlton: 606 apps (199 goals); 1 goal every 3.05 games
Rooney might be on the brink of breaking the all-time record but he remains a monster season short of beating Sir Bobby’s league record. The deficit currently stands at 20 but Charlton, it should be pointed out, had much longer to accumulate his tally.
If destiny were to grant Rooney another four years at Old Trafford –thereby matching Charlton’s 17 campaigns –then he would require an average of only five goals per season to draw level. The respective goal ratios tell the story: Rooney finds the net once every 2.12 games, Charlton once every 3.05 games. And the numbers only lean more heavily towards Rooney when the two players are judged on minutes played.
Not only did Charlton play an extra 226 league matches, but he completed 90 minutes in virtually all of them. The substitute rule only came into play midway through his United career (1965/66) and Charlton was very rarely hooked in any case, while he started on the bench only twice.
Rooney, by contrast, has started as a substitute 35 times and been withdrawn on 74 occasions, not to mention his two red cards. All of which means, in total, Charlton played nearly 24,000 more league minutes than Rooney, during which time we might say he bagged (based on his average) around 86 of his goals. Or from Rooney’s perspective, given the extra minutes, he might be expected to add another 138 to his total.
More to the point, Charlton also played in an era when defences weren’t nearly as disciplined and, statistically, goals were much easier to come by. During the first five years of his career (1956-1961), goals in the old First Division would be scored at a rate of 3.5 per game, compared to just 2.75 in the modern era.
Only in Charlton’s last five seasons at Old Trafford (1968-1973) did the standard rate drop below three goals per game as the influence of Catenaccio began to permeate the English game. And for a World Cup winner in his 30s, the shift was one he struggled to adapt to.
To put it another way, consider that Rooney’s overall tally of 179 represents 19 per cent of all the league goals United have scored since September 2004, whereas Charlton’s haul of 199 was only 14 per cent of his team's total between October 1956 and May 1973.
Verdict: In pure statistical terms, it’s clear cut–Rooney is definitely the more prolific.2. Domestic cup record
Wayne Rooney: 55 apps (26 goals); 1 goal every 2.12 games
Bobby Charlton: 102 apps (26 goals); 1 goal every 3.92 games
The bare numbers fall in Rooney’s favour but they don’t tell the whole story of two contrasting careers in domestic knockout competition. Both men lost two FA Cup finals in their first three seasons as United players and both have lifted the trophy once, with Rooney finally ending his wait with last season’s extra-time success over Crystal Palace.
However, an FA Cup highlights reel involving Charlton’s United would definitely be the better watch. The 79-year-old reached the semi-finals in five consecutive seasons between 1962 and 1966 (winning the trophy in 1963); in those days FA Cup semis were huge occasions, often turning into marathon affairs. Charlton played in a dozen semi-final matches (scoring twice) and, replays aside, was victorious in three out of eight.
Rooney, by contrast, has played in only five and never scored in either a semi or a final. However, the overall complexion changes dramatically when the League Cup is brought into the equation: Rooney’s big moments in that competition probably put him ahead of Charlton overall.
The former Everton youngster was still only 20 when he announced his arrival as the man for big occasions with a two-goal salvo in United’s 4-0 Carling Cup success over Wigan at the Millennium Stadium in 2006. Three years later, he lifted the three-handled pot again following a penalty shootout success over Tottenham.
But his biggest contribution to United’s knockout exploits over the past 12 years undoubtedly came the following season, when he scored decisive goals in both the semi-final and final –the former providing United fans with a more iconic image than the latter, arriving as it did on the stroke of 90 minutes at the Stretford End against Manchester City.
During Charlton’s time, the League Cup was still in its infancy and didn’t quite carry the same prestige as it would later do in the 1970s and 1980s. United’s first proper run in the tournament didn’t arrive until 1969/70 when they were beaten in the semi-final by City. Likewise, the return leg was staged at Old Trafford with the Sky Blues holding a 2-1 advantage, but Charlton Co. could only manage a 2-2 draw in response.
Verdict: For all United’s prominence in the FA Cup throughout the 1960s, Charlton himself seldom made a decisive intervention in those latter stages, which partly explains why the Red Devils were so often nearly men. Rooney’s place in League Cup history is cemented and essentially tips the balance, backing up his superior goalscoring record.
Next: Continental conquerings3. European record
Wayne Rooney: 95 apps (39 goals); 1 goal every 2.44 games
Bobby Charlton: 45 apps (22 goals); 1 goal every 2.05 games
There are striking similarities between the two players when comparing goalscoring records on the continent: Rooney has played roughly twice as many games as Charlton, and scored twice as many goals. However, when you start dealing in fractions, it’s Charlton who edges it. Even with those lost minutes for substitutions, Sir Bobby remains ahead with a goal every 185 minutes compared to Rooney’s rate of one every 201 minutes.
Question marks arise regarding the respective standard of opposition –and these are difficult to answer. Who could honestly quantify the level of difficulty in beating the likes of Vorwarts Berlin, Hibernians of Malta, FK Sarajevo and Gornik Zabrze in the 1960s compared to the modern-day equivalents of AaB Aalborg, CFR Cluj, Otelul Galati and Zorya Luhansk?
All we can say is that Charlton’s era was fraught with more uncertainty and the European Cup in its original format left teams with little margin for error. Every round was a knockout and there was no video analysis enabling an entourage of backroom staff to conduct forensic analysis on the opposition, making attacking players aware of how best to unhinge their direct rival.
It should be pointed out that fewer than half Charlton’s 22 goals were actually scored in the European Cup, a quirk almost certainly due to circumstance. With United absent from continental competition for five seasons after the Munich air disaster, Charlton was coming into his prime when they returned in September 1963 –as he showed by scoring a dozen goals across two seasons playing in the Cup Winners’ Cup and Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
However, any suggestion that he was a flat-track bully on the continent would be absurd. In April 1957, at just 19 years old, he scored in a semi-final against Real Madrid at Old Trafford –one of four European Cup semi-finals he would participate in.His crowning glory came more than a decade later with two goals in the 4-1 extra-time win over Benfica in 1968's final.
Rooney has also played in four Champions League semi-finals and emerged victorious from three, as well as winning the competition once whenChelseawere defeated on penalties in Moscow. His greatest contribution on the biggest stage –the equaliser in the 2011 final against Barcelona at Wembley –was ultimately eclipsed by a powerful second-half display from the Catalan giants.
Verdict: There’s only one winner here. On bare numbers alone Charlton’s superiority is only marginal, but from an anecdotal perspective his contribution is far more enthralling.4. Trophies won
Wayne Rooney: 9 (five league titles, one FA Cup, two League Cups, one European Cup)
Bobby Charlton: 5 (three league titles, one FA Cup, one European Cup)
Rooney's arrival at Old Trafford in August 2004 came roughly two-thirds of the way through the Sir Alex Ferguson era; as such, United were a well-oiled machine, built and conditioned to bend the domestic game to their will. That would arguably have remained the case with or without Rooney, even though he would become the club’s best player over the next decade.
It should have been a similar story for Charlton, who broke through the ranks halfway through Sir Matt Busby’s 24-year tenure. But tragedy struck in February 1958, and a team that appeared to be on the verge of greatness had to be rebuilt almost from scratch, with Busby in charge and Charlton as his most-trusted lieutenant.
In the wake of the recent Chapecoense tragedy, it should be easier for readers to grasp the enormity of the grieving and rebuilding process United went through in the five years after Munich. And in that context, it should also be possible to rationalise an honours list that, in purely mathematical terms, pitches Rooney as the more successful player. That’s not necessarily the case.
For starters, the League Cup, which accounts for two of Rooney’s haul, warranted little attention for much of Charlton’s United career. Only towards the end of his time at Old Trafford in the late 1960s did it become a competition on a par with the often-maligned but fairly prestigious version we see today. The first Wembley final wasn’t staged until 1967, when Charlton was 29.
So then we're presented with a revised tally of 7-5 in Rooney’s favour, although it's also worth remembering that four of the younger man’s seven trophies –his first three league titles and the Champions League success of 2008 –were collected in the equivalent period when Charlton was simply trying to come to terms with a harrowing disaster.
Verdict: There’s nothing between them. Neither player really has the edge when it comes to team success, given the respective conditions under which they were operating.
Next: And the winner is...5. Conclusion
Comparing two players from entirely different eras is fraught with complexities that go way beyond an Excel spreadsheet and the comparative data of 986 matches.
This isn’t just about heavy balls and muddy pitches. The competitive terrain half a century ago was totally different, back in the days before anybody cottoned on to the idea that football had such business potential, especially when you distribute television revenue in such a way that enables the biggest clubs to capitalise and sustain their success.
Nonetheless, we can at least put a number on competitive balance using an algorithm, favoured by sports economics professor in the United States, that measures the points distribution of final league tables. According to such a tool, we can speculate that the old First Division was 47 per cent more competitive from top to bottom over the course of Charlton’s career than the Premier League has been since Rooney moved to United.
In purely individual goalscoring terms, Rooney has the better record. He scores one goal every 2.17 games compared to Charlton’s overall return of one goal every 3.04 games. And when you convert those respective figures into an approximation of actual minutes played, the younger man’s supremacy becomes a landslide –a goal every 174 minutes compared to Charlton’s rate of one every 246.
But then you divide one figure by the other and discover that Rooney’s goalscoring ratio is only 41 per cent better in a period where the football might be considered 47 per cent less competitive. Suddenly the waters are muddy again.
Perhaps the best way to sort this one out is over a pint.
New features you'd like every day on FourFourTwo.com• More Manchester United
featureFri, 09 Dec 2016 12:06:03 +0000Greg Lea661154 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comFourFourTwo's best 100 Premier League matches ever: 20-11Featuring Balos brace, Romans riches and two nine-goal thrillershttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/fourfourtwos-best-100-premier-league-matches-ever-20-11
Words:James Maw,Mike Crocombe,Rik Sharma,Joe Brewin,Jamie Orrell,Jake Gable,Phil Haigh,Vithushan Ehantharajah,Gary Parkinson
20. Arsenal 4-4 Tottenham, 29/10/2008
Despite ending their eight-game winless start to the season in Harry Redknapp’s first match in charge three days beforehand, Spurs were still bottom of the pile and huge underdogs for this north London derby. But former Gunner David Bentley gave them a shock lead in sensational fashion, looping a shot over Manuel Almunia from 40 yards.
Spurs led for most of the first half, only for Mikael Silvestre and William Gallas to give the Gunners the lead with goals either side of the interval. Emmanuel Adebayor and Darren Bent made it 3-1 then 3-2, before Robin van Persie appeared to settle matters with the Gunners’ fourth.
But with Tottenham fans streaming from the away end, Jermaine Jenas’ fantastic individual effort set up a frantic finale. With seconds of injury time remaining, Aaron Lennon reacted quickest when Luka Modric’s shot rebounded off the upright, coolly slotting home the visitors’ fourth of the evening and sending Redknapp potty on the sidelines. JM
19. Southampton 6-3 Man United, 26/10/1996
Having been beaten 5-0 at Newcastle the week before, Manchester United were expected to take their frustrations out on lowly Southampton, especially given the embarrassing nature of their 3-1 defeat at the Dell the previous season, ‘invisible’ grey shirts and all. But Saints stunned the football world again by going one better than the Magpies and putting six past Peter Schmeichel.
Graeme Souness’ side led 3-1 at the break, with goals from Eyal Berkovic, Matt Le Tissier and Egil Ostenstad, putting the Hampshire side in the driving seat. David May pulled one back for the Red Devils to create a nervy second half, in which United long threatened to equalise, despite being reduced to ten men when Roy Keane was sent off. Berkovic and Ostenstad struck again to settle south coast nerves, however, and although Paul Scholes got another for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, a nicely finished Gary Neville own goal rounded off the perfect day for the Saints. RS
18. Swansea 5-4 Crystal Palace, 26/11/2016
On paper it looked worthy of last-on-Match of the Day billing; in reality this was anything but. Two struggling sides in desperate need of victory thrashed out a corker in south Wales, with Bob Bradley eventually claiming his first victory as Swansea boss thanks to Fernando Llorente’s injury-time brace.
The score was 3-2 in Swansea’s favour with just nine minutes of the game left, after they’d overturned Wilfried Zaha’s opener with goals from Gylfi Sigurdsson (a trademark free-kick) and a three-minute double from Leroy Fer. Most of the goals were ugly – James Tomkins’ 75th-minute goal to make it 3-2 fell very firmly into that category – but it hardly dulled the drama.
Palace tipped the game on its head when Christian Benteke followed up a Jack Cork own goal on 84 minutes – but then came Llorente’s last-gasp salvo to earn Swansea their first league win in 12 and pile the pressure on a forlorn Alan Pardew. JB
Next: Very noisy neighbours17. Aston Villa 0-1 Oldham, 02/05/1993
The Premier League’s original Latics went into the final three games of 1992/93 knowing maximum points were needed to secure survival. Aston Villa, meanwhile, were desperately trying to keep pace with Manchester United in the title race.
Despite possessing the attacking talents of Dalian Atkinson and Dean Saunders, Villa were unable to make the breakthrough, and on a dramatic afternoon at Villa Park, Nick Henry grabbed the winner for the visitors. The result handed the title to Manchester United and ultimately proved to be the catalyst for Oldham’s survival, with the Boundary Park side eventually avoiding the drop on goal difference at the expense of Crystal Palace. JO
16. Man United 1-6 Man City, 23/10/2011
For the third season running, City went to Old Trafford in October 2011 looking to make a bold statement and demonstrate their title credentials. Unlike their previous two Premier League trips across Manchester, that’s exactly what they did.
After a cagey start, firework-loving loon Mario Balotelli helped swing the balance in City’s favour, calmly slotting home from the edge of the box to put the visitors ahead; the Italian was later hauled down by Johnny Evans, resulting in a red card for the United defender. From that point onwards, everything for those of a United persuasion will be a horrible blur. Balotelli quickly made it 2-0, and it began to look a bit embarrassing for the champions when Sergio Aguero made it three.
But United just don’t know when they’re beaten, do they? Darren Fletcher pulled one back with ten minutes left, and the home fans suddenly started tobelieve in a comeback. Instead, City waltzed through a dazed and confused United backline, scoring three quick-fire goals to complete United’s worst home defeat since 1955. PH
15. Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool, 11/05/2003
A fixture billed as the "£20m game" ushered in an era which massively changed English football. Liverpool visited Chelsea on the final day of the Premiership season with the victors guaranteed fourth place and subsequently lucrative Champions League qualification.
Liverpool, who were behind on goal difference andhad to win, went in front through Sami Hyypia, but Marcel Desailly equalised a minute later and Jesper Gronkjaer scored what turned out to be the winner soon after. More importantly, the Dane's goal secured the destination of Roman Abramovich’s millions: with the Russian reportedly considering a move for London rivals Tottenham at the time, this Chelsea victory may have been their biggest yet. MC
14. Man City 2-3 Fulham, 26/04/2008
Roy Hodgson's Fulham were five points from safety with three games to go, while Manchester City's erratic form meant they were making hard work of their fight for a European spot. A sumptuous curling effort from Stephen Ireland and a smart finish from Benjani put City 2-0 up after 20 minutes; elsewhere, Fulham's relegation rivals Birmingham and Bolton both went in front.
Diomansy Kamara halved the deficit by squeezing the ball through Joe Hart’s legs in the second half, before Danny Murphy tucked home the rebound after his penalty was saved. Then, with both sides pushing for the winner, Murphy slipped in Kamara, who carried the ball into the penalty area and fired into the roof of the net to steal a precious win in injury time. Fulham went on to survive with a final-day triumph at Portsmouth. VE
Next: Kanu comeback13. Chelsea 2-3 Arsenal, 23/10/1999
“Kanu believe it!” bellowed Sky commentator Martin Tyler as Kanu’s remarkable late hat-trick turned the game on its head at Stamford Bridge. After headed goals from giant Norwegian Tore Andre Flo and Romanian Dan Petrescu had given Chelsea the lead, Kanu pulled two back for the Gunners in the final 15 minutes of the 90, first prodding home from close range, then beating Marcel Desailly to the ball to screw an effort past Ed de Goey in the Blues goal.
Nobody could have predicted what would happen next, as the mercurial Nigerian broke free in injury time, striding past the onrushing De Goey by the corner flag and curling an almost impossible effort past the covering Frank Leboeuf and Desailly from the tightest of angles. JG
12. Liverpool 3-2 Manchester City, 13/04/2014
On the day Anfield marked the 25th anniversary of Hillsborough, Liverpool took a huge step toward their first title in 24 years with a 10th successive win, carved out of a typical combination of attacking élan and defensive susceptibility.
The Reds started the day top but only four points clear of City, who had two games in hand. Brendan Rodgers' side stunned their opponents with a first-half tirade topped by goals from Raheem Sterling and Martin Skrtel, but then allowed their visitors to dominate after the break – by the 62nd minute David Silva had levelled matters with a close-range finish and a deflected equaliser.
Sub Sergio Aguero almost set up a third for Silva, but then a sliced clearance from half-fit City captain Vincent Kompany was gobbled up by Philippe Coutinho. Liverpool held on for an emotional victory, with captain Steven Gerrard wiping away his final-whistle tears to demand his huddled team-mates not let the league trophy slip away. GP
11. Bradford 1-0 Liverpool, 14/05/2000
Bradford and Wimbledon both went into the final day of the season on 33 points, but the Dons held a clear goal difference advantage in the fight to avoid the drop.
Wimbledon’s trip to Southampton may have looked a little easier than a home tie with a Liverpool side pushing for a Champions League spot, but the Bantams took an early lead as David Wetherall thumped a header past Sander Westerveld. On the south coast, Wimbledon conceded two second-half goals to Saints, while Bradford just about held on at Valley Parade to retain their Premier League status. PH
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featureFri, 09 Dec 2016 11:36:08 +0000Joe Brewin659786 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comNobody at Tottenham has the heart to tell Dele Alli there won’t be a next timeTyros optimism for the future met with embarrassed silence, Back of the Net reportBack of the Nethttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/nobody-tottenham-has-heart-tell-dele-alli-there-wont-be-a-next-time
Dele Alli ledTottenhamto victory over CSKA Moscow on Wednesday night to round off his side’s Champions League campaign, and immediately turned his attention to next year’s competition.
Alli scored as Spurs ran out comfortable 3-1 winners, an experience the youngster described with embarrassing naivety as “great preparation for next season”.
“We’ll come back stronger in 2017, no doubt,” Alli said with all the misplaced optimism of a man born in 1996. “This is just the beginning for this club,” he added, blissfully ignorant of Tottenham’s long tradition of underachievement and relentless self-sabotage.
The midfielder’s more experienced colleagues listened on awkwardly as he described how much he was looking forward to playing at the Camp Nou and the Bernabeu, as though qualifying for Europe’s premier club competition was something Spurs would be doing again in Alli’s career.
Mid-table mediocrity
Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris said: “Realistically, we’re going to be hit by a series of injuries, fall agonisingly short of fourth, have our manager and best players poached by our rivals, invest the money badly, and return to upper-mid table mediocrity by the end of the decade.
“The only way Dele is going to play at the Bernabeu is if Real Madrid buy him. I know this. You know this. Everyone knows this except Dele. Is it crueller to tell him now or to let him find out for himself?”
When informed that Alli was also bullish about England’s chances at Russia 2018, Lloris shook his head wearily, muttered something about the fleeting innocence of youth, and began following PSG on Snapchat.
Please note: This satirical news story is not real. Obviously.
Funny stuff•New features you'd like every day on FourFourTwo.com
featureFri, 09 Dec 2016 11:06:39 +0000Gregor MacGregor661402 at http://www.fourfourtwo.com10 team-mates who couldn't stand the sight of each otherAfter Preston playersEoin Doyle and JermaineBeckford had to be pulled apart against Sheffield Wednesday last weekend, Tim Ellis picks out other colleagues who didnt get onTim Ellishttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/10-team-mates-who-couldnt-stand-sight-each-other
1. Emlyn Hughes vs Tommy Smith (Liverpool)
‘Crazy Horse’ Hughes took the captaincy off ‘Iron Man’ Smith in 1973 when the latter fell out with Bill Shankly. "It was my club," Smith later recalled. "I'd been there a damn sight longer than him. Everything in my life was football, especially Liverpool, so why should I let this two-faced little so-and-so spoil my football life?”
Both were consummate professionals on the pitch, however, able to put aside their personal dislike of each other - although when Ron Harris took Hughes out in a game at Anfield, Smith told him: “I could get to like you.”
2. Zlatan Ibrahimovic vs Rafael Van der Vaart (Ajax)
The Ajax team-mates locked horns in an international friendly between Sweden and the Netherlands in 2004, when Van der Vaart held Ibrahimovic responsible for the ankle injury he sustained.
"I didn’t injure you on purpose, and you know that," Ibra retorted. "And if you accuse me again I’ll break both your legs - and that time it will be on purpose.” Charming.
3. Teddy Sheringham vs Andy Cole (Manchester United/England)
"I walked onto the pitch, 60,000 or so watching," Cole recalled of his England debut against Uruguay in 1995. "Sheringham is coming off. I expect a brief handshake, a 'Good luck, Coley', something. I'm ready to shake. He snubs me. He actively snubs me, for no reason I was ever aware of then or since."
From that moment on the pair never said a word to one another off the pitch, despite a decent chemistry on it. As Gary Pallister once remarked to Cole: "I know you don't speak to Teddy and he doesn't speak to you, but at least you play well together." Just count the medals, lads.
Next: Women trouble
4. Lothar Matthaus vs Stefan Effenberg (Germany)
The warring midfielders were at each other's throats for most of the 1990s, briefly at Bayern Munichbut particularly with the national team. Effenberg claimed Matthaus lacked courage, citing the captain's failure to take Germany's penalty in the 1990 World Cup final, while Matthaus wasted little time in telling Bayern to get rid of his old foe after the Bavarians lost to Hansa Rostock in 2001.
Effenberg even dedicated a chapter of his autobiography to his arch-enemy, which consisted of a blank page under the title: “What Lothar Matthaus knows about football.” Nicely done.
5. Mauro Icardi vs Maxi Lopez (Sampdoria)
Icardi and Lopez used to be best buddies at Sampdoria, but the relationship turned sour when the former decided to marry the latter's ex-wife, Wanda Nara. Icardi joinedIntersoon after, with Lopez refusing to shake his former friend's hand when Torino - who the ex-Barcelona man joined in 2015 - faced theNerazzurri.
"Unfortunately these things happen, it depends on the ignorance of certain people," Icardi said afterwards. "I gave my hand; I am polite.” His brief attempt to take the moral high ground was quickly undone when he got a tattoo of Lopez's children on his arm. Not cool, Mauro.
6. John Fashanu vs Lawrie Sanchez (Wimbledon)
A ferocious team spirit helped the Dons defeat Liverpool in one of the biggest FA Cup final shocks of all time in 1988, but behind the scenes Fashanu and Sanchez were at loggerheads. The two even squared off during a training session, when Fash hit the Cup final goalscorer with “a shot that would supposedly knock a horse down."
“From the first moment, he knew what I was and I knew what he was," Sanchez said scathingly.
When Fashanu was asked if he had any regrets, he mused: “Not striking Lawrie Sanchez sooner.” Fair play.
7. Ruud van Nistelrooy vs Patrick Kluivert (Netherlands)
Kluivert certainly enjoyed Newcastle’s nightlife during his time on Tyneside in 2004, with the stay-at-home and sober Van Nistelrooy left unimpressed with his team-mate's attitude when the two joined forces at international level.
Kluivert was spotted at a rave in Amsterdam after the first leg of the Euro 2004 play-off against Scotland, prompting the Manchester United star to go on record with a thinly-veiled attack on his strike partner. “I cannot do it all myself,” he told reporters. “I cannot be the only Dutch player who closes down and leads from the front.”
Dick Advocaat did his best to make things work, but it wasn’t to be.
Next: Trouble in paradise
8. Jens Lehmann vs Oliver Kahn (Germany)
The two custodians were constantly sniping at each other from near and far over the German No.1 shirt; Kahn made fun of Lehmann when he lost his place to Manuel Almunia atArsenal, while Lehmann retorted that the Bayern Munich shot-stopper took himself too seriously.
"I don't have a 24-year-old girlfriend. I have a different life," the Arsenal man said of Kahn's relationship with a Munich barmaid. Nothing that a bout of fisticuffs at Oktoberfest wouldn’t sort out.
9. Arjen Robben vs Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Robben suggested that he and Lewandowski needed to “stay critical with each other" as reports of a thaw in relations between the two threatened to derail Bayern last season.
The antipathy stemmed from Robben's failure to play the German through during a 4-0 thrashing of Stuttgart, with Lewandowski later telling Bild: "I won't comment on it. You've all seen it."
"There were a few situations in the first half where he could have passed the ball too," Robben snapped back. We'll call it a draw.
10. Romario vs Edmundo (Vasco Da Gama/Brazil)
Fans called it the "attack of dreams" when the two Brazilian bad boys were partnership atVasco DaGama in 1999, but it turned out to be a gigantic clash of egos instead. Not that anyone could have seen it coming; after all, it wasn't as if Romario had once opined “when I was born, the man in the sky pointed to me and said, ‘That's the guy’."
Neither liked the pain of training, preferring to play foot volleyball on Rio's luscious beaches instead. The duo's friendship ended in 1998, when Romario posted a cartoon of Edmundo sitting on a deflated football on the entrance to a toilet, with a similarly unflattering depiction of his ex-girlfriend on the opposite door.
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featureThu, 08 Dec 2016 17:34:13 +0000Greg Lea660643 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comGraffiti, laundry and heroes: 1968/69 in 16 unmissable picturesShankly, Busby, Revie, players in towels ands the woman who washes Northamptons kit: Peter Robinsons camera snapped them all in a classic seasonGary Parkinsonhttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/graffiti-laundry-and-heroes-196869-16-unmissable-pictures
1. Leeds into battle
Ready for battle? Don Revie addresses his assembled Leeds United players ahead of the new season. Since their 1964 promotion as Division Two champions, Leeds had twice finished second in the top flight, as well as losing the 1965 FA Cup final to Liverpool and the 1967 Fairs Cup final to Dinamo Zagreb.
However, victory over Arsenal in the 1968 League Cup final had secured the club’s first senior silverware and evidently boosted self-belief. Leeds soon added the 1967/68 Fairs Cup by beating Ferencvaros, recording clean sheets in both legs of the final for a 1-0 victory – just like the League Cup one over Arsenal.
But after a 66-game season chasing four trophies in 1967/68, Revie had a single aim in mind. As Johnny Giles recalls, "Revie called us all together after a pre-season training session and proclaimed: 'You’re going to win the championship this time, lads, and what's more you’re going to do so without losing a single league match!' We knew the boss was serious, and honestly believed we were quite capable of achieving such a feat."
2. Toddo
Graffiti on a wall in Sunderland acclaims the local club’s boy wonder, Colin Todd. Born in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, Todd chose Sunderland over Newcastle and Middlesbrough because the Mackems had a tradition of producing good young players– a decision justified when they won the 1967 FA Youth Cup with a side led by Todd and managed by Brian Clough.
By that time Todd was already a first-team regular at barely 18, a silky centre-back who was calm under pressure and creative in possession. The Black Cats struggled to avoid relegation, though, finally dropping in 1970; the following February, Todd was bought by Derby manager Clough for £175,000 – a British record for a defender. Again, the decision was justified as Todd became a full England international, won the First Division in 1972 and 1975, and was named PFA Player of the Year.
3. Laundry day
October 1968, and the Northampton Town kit is hung out to dry by one of those behind-the-scenes heroes every club needs. The Cobblers had an up-and-down 1960s – literally: they started the decade in Division Four, rose all the way to the top flight and then all the way back down again.
Promoted under Dave Bowen in 1961, 1963 and 1965, they spent just the one season in the First Division; despite memorable wins over foes like West Ham, Aston Villa, Leeds and Newcastle, they were instantly relegated and fell straight through Division Two, too – at which point Bowen left.
Having avoided relegation to the bottom tier in 1967/68, they had hoped to arrest the slide, but 1968/69 duly delivered a third relegation in four seasons and the Cobblers were once more in the basement.
4. Form a wall
Looking back from an age when graffiti is largely the mindless repetition of tags along railway lines, it’s almost nice to see someone take such care over their daubings. What makes this vandalism interesting – beside the fracturing of the 3-2-5 formation into something resembling a midfield diamond– is that it took place in Manchester: notice the advert for the Omar Sharif tearjerker Mayerling at the Deansgate ABC, while the Odeon went for the R-rated shocker Baby Love. Judging by those films’ release dates, this picture was taken in the dying months of 1968.
Maybe it was put there by a Londoner killing time before the return train from Piccadilly – Spurs lost 3-1 at Old Trafford on 28 August and 4-0 at Maine Road on 12 October, before returning in March for a 1-0 sixth round defeat by eventual FA Cup winners City. Or maybe it was a local who’d decided to support Tottenham – not exactly glory-hunting, considering City were league champions and United European champions.
Either way, it’s a line-up that’s both ephemeral and eternal. Martin Chivers, who would be Spurs’ top scorer for five successive seasons from 1969/70, only moved from Southampton in January 1968; by July, Dave Mackay had been tempted to Derby by Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, while Cliff Jones moved to Fulham in October 1968. But of these 11 players, all bar Chivers and Terry Venables represented Spurs for at least eight seasons – Jennings managed 13.
Next: Clear as mud5. Doc Gone
QPR gaffer Tommy Docherty joins his players in the dressing room… but doesn’t take his coat off. As an after-dinner speaker, the Doc would joke that he’d had more clubs than Jack Nicklaus –and during 1968/69 he managed three during a six-week spell.
The Doc had coached Chelsea for six years before leaving in October 1967. He went straight to Rotherham and promptly led them out of Division Two… into Division Three. Leaving Millmoor in late 1968, he was quickly appointed QPR manager but lasted just four weeks before resigning and rapidly turning up at Aston Villa.
In 1967/68 the Rs had been promoted to the top flight under the gentlemanly Alec Stock, who had also led them to the Third Division title and League Cup glory –but chairman Jim Gregory, the archetypal brash car-salesman, eased Stock aside. It didn’t work: they were relegated after just one season.
By then Docherty was long gone, having lasted just four games before quitting. He wanted to sign Rotherham centre-back Brian Tiler, but Gregory didn’t; when the Doc threatened to quit, the chairman thought he was bluffing. He wasn’t, and walked away, joining second-tier Villa in mid-December. Within two weeks he signed Brian Tiler.
6. The Red Knight
There aren’t many Manchester United legends who played for Liverpool and Manchester City, but Matt Busby ticks all those boxes. He might have even managed Liverpool had the Anfield hierarchy given him the control he wanted over coaching and transfers; they didn’t, United did, and history followed its course.
Busby led United to five league titles and two FA Cups, but it was the crowning glory of winning the 1968 European Cup just after his 59th birthday that earned him a knighthood and led him to ponder retirement – of a sort. On 14 January 1969, Busby announced that at the end of the campaign he would make way for “a younger man… a track-suited manager”, but he would stay on as general manager.
“United is no longer a football club,” explained Busby. “It is an institution. I feel the demands are beyond one human being.” Wilf McGuinness duly donned the tracksuit but lasted just 18 months before poor results prompted Busby to sack him and move back downstairs.
7. Muck and brass at Burnley
More turf at Turf Moor? Burnley winger Ralph Coates considers the effects of the English winter upon the playing surfaces of the First Division. But Coates was unlikely to complain about his working conditions: before a Burnley scout spotted him, he had been an apprentice colliery fitter preparing for life down the County Durham mines.
First Division stalwarts since 1947, Burnley were an interesting club. Under the progressive chairmanship of Bob Lord, they built a bespoke training ground next to Turf Moor and relied on a strong youth production line. Despite not often spending transfer fees, they had finished in the top four on five occasions between 1960 and 1966, before a decidedly odd 1968/69.
They lost 5-0 at West Ham and 7-0 at Spurs, then went on a six-match winning run that included a 5-1 larruping of Leeds - one of only two defeats the Yorkshire side suffered en route to a record-breaking title win. The six-victory run was immediately followed by a seven-match winless streak, featuring a 7-0 hiding at Man City and a vengeful 6-1 loss at Leeds. Later in the season, the Clarets would lose 4-1 at drop-dodgers Coventry and 5-1 at Southampton. In their 42 league matches they scored 55 and conceded 82, a total of 137 goals or 3.2 per game.
Burnley would eventually succumb to relegation in 1971, prompting the sale of Coates –an energetic worker on either flank, and by then an England international –to Spurs, where he would score the winner in the 1973 League Cup Final.
8. Swindon's big day
Swindon Town had never amounted to much, unless you count two FA Cup semi-finals before the Great War and 1964’s 14th-place finish in their first-ever Division Two season (within a year they were relegated again). But from 1961 the new League Cup offered another route to glory for lower-league teams: Rotherham, Norwich and Rochdale each reached early finals, and although the bigger clubs soon started to take it seriously, third-tier QPR won the 1967 final at Wembley.
So Swindon had little to lose when they reached the 1969 final against mighty Arsenal. As Wiltshire prepared for Wembley, photographer Peter Robinson assembled the entire club –managers, players, directors and staff –on the County Ground pitch to mark their first-ever Twin Towers trip.
On the day, Arsenal were flu-ridden and the pitch quickly cut up, but Swindon took their chances. Roger Smart gave them an unlikely first-half lead, and Bobby Gould’s 86th-minute equaliser only set the scene for left-winger Don Rogers to write himself into legend (and reduce the 10-year-old Nick Hornby to tears on the Wembley terraces) with two extra-time goals.
Swindon went on to seal promotion from the Third Division, only losing the title on goal average. They still weren’t allowed into the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup because they weren’t in the top flight, but were awarded the consolation gong of a two-legged face-off with Coppa Italia winners Roma, which they won 5-2 on aggregate; the popularity of these games, along with the World Cup-extended 1970 off-season, prompted the creation of the Anglo-Italian Cup.
Next: Suffering Shanks9. Stanley knifed
By March 1969, Peel Park was not in a good state. Seven years after financial difficulties had forced Accrington Stanley to resign the Football League, and four years after the club’s ultimate liquidation, the old ground was slowly rotting away.
The unusual suffix Stanley came from the amalgamation of Accrington FC – who themselves had resigned from the Football League over fiscal strife, back in 1893 –with Stanley Villa; the newly-merged entity were founder members of the Third Division North in 1921.
On-field success was scarce to non-existent, and the club was eventually scuppered by a stand. There had been ambitious plans for a new two-tier stand on the Burnley Road side, but instead the club bought a 4,000-seat stand second-hand from the Aldershot Military Tattoo. The £2,000 price mushroomed tenfold via dismantling, transport and reconstruction costs; added to existing debts, the deal effectively took Stanley under.
By the time this picture was taken, Stanley had reformed and would eventually climb back to rejoin the Football League. Although most of the buildings are long gone, the ground is still used by a local school and Peel Park FC.
10. The real Mackay
With Peter Taylor at his shoulder, Brian Clough shakes the hand of Derby captain Dave Mackay – the hand that isn’t holding the Division Two trophy. The managerial twosome had arrived from Hartlepools (then still plural) in summer 1967 and promptly cleared Derby’s decks, retaining just four of the inherited squad: some say Clough even sacked two tea-ladies he heard chuckling after a defeat.
Taylor’s eye for a player and Clough’s man-management would soon turn the club round, and Mackay was the key signing. Approaching 34, he cost just £5,000 from Spurs, a price Clough compared to “getting Laurence Olivier to act in the village hall for thirty bob.” Converted from half-back (midfielder) to a ball-playing centre-back, he helped the Rams romp to the title by seven clear points. Directing operations from the rear, Mackay was sufficiently impressive to be chosen the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year, jointly with Man City’s Tony Book.
Derby’s success story wouldn’t end there. In 1972 Clough and Taylor would lead them to the Division One title; when the pair resigned in late 1973, the Rams turned to Mackay as manager – and he led them to the Division One title again in 1974/75.
11. Ten-bob City
The last FA Cup Final of the 1960s started with a taste of the future. The tossed coin was the new 50p piece, the world’s first seven-sided coin and not even legal tender until October, replacing the ten-bob note as part of preparations for decimalisation in 1971.
Outgoing league champions Manchester City might not have done a good job of defending their title – although better than last time they’d tried it (in 1937/38), when they’d been relegated –but they were at least the firm favourites to win the FA Cup. En route to Wembley they had only let in one goal in six games, and that concession came during a 4-1 win over Blackburn; on the other hand, their opponents Leicester were in the drop zone as a harsh winter led to the league season spilling well into May.
True to form, the favourites kept a clean sheet and won through a single goal from Neil Young, lashed home first-time from 15 yards after good work from Mike Summerbee. Fallowfield-born Young had been his childhood team’s top scorer for two of the previous three seasons –the ones in which City had won the Second Division and then the First Division. And when City won the 1970 Cup Winners’ Cup final, Young scored the first goal and won the penalty for the second.
After Wembley, Leicester turned their attention to the battle against the drop. Their cup run and a harsh winter had left them with five games to collect seven points in order to overtake Coventry, who had already finished their campaign.
Home wins over Spurs and Sunderland either side of a loss at Ipswich left them needing three points from their last two games. Held at Filbert Street by Everton, they then needed to triumph at Manchester United in what was supposed to be Sir Matt Busby’s last league game. David Nish put them in front from the spot but United cruised back to win 3-2, and Leicester were relegated after a 12-year top-flight stint.
12. Shanks' irksome season
Fingers inky with newsprint, Bill Shankly seems to be cross-questioning an unseen correspondent about something he’s seen in the newspaper. If the Liverpool manager was irked, it was perhaps understandable during the 1968/69 season, which provided a string of annoying disappointments. After League titles in 1964 and 1966 sandwiching an FA Cup win, Shanks suffered a third successive trophyless season – a drought during which his friend and rival Matt Busby had conquered England and then Europe.
Liverpool’s third-place finish in 1967/68 sent them into the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, but they fell at the first hurdle against Atheltic Bilbao: after clawing back a two-goal deficit with two late strikes at Anfield, they lost on the toss of a coin. They went out of the domestic cups to eventual runners-up Arsenal and Leicester, the latter after the Reds had drawn at Filbert Street to take the Foxes back to Anfield, where a Kop-end Tommy Smith penalty was saved by teenage ingenue Peter Shilton.
However, it was a record eighth league title that most agonisingly slipped through Shanks’ fingers. Liverpool hit top spot in October, winning five successive games by scoring 18 without conceding, and were still top on Valentine’s Day.
Don Revie’s Leeds had games in hand, however, and his side had developed a steely inexorability. Breaking several records, the Yorkshiremen gradually eased past Liverpool and rubbed salt in Shankly’s wounds by sealing the title at Anfield with, of course, a hard-fought 0-0. Liverpool ended up collecting enough points and goals to have won the title in any of the previous 11 seasons, but Leeds were the coming power… and another opponent Shanks would have to outwit.
Next: Magpies take flight13. The brains trust
Don Revie (far right) and his Leeds United backroom staff show off the Football League championship trophy. At the start of the season, Revie had told his players that they would win the title without losing a match. He wasn’t quite right –they lost twice, 3-1 at holders Manchester City and 5-1 at Burnley –but they were unbeaten in the last 28, keeping 24 clean sheets over the 42-game campaign.
Leeds secured the league with a 0-0 draw at title rivals Liverpool and ended up smashing all manner of top-flight records: most points (67 from a possible 84), most home points (39 from a possible 42), most wins (27), most home wins (18) and fewest defeats (2). Even a critic like Mirror journalist Derek Wallis had to admit that “Leeds are the best equipped of all the English teams for the traps, tensions and special demands of the competition they will now enter – the European Cup. Leeds United are the champions, the masters, the new kings of English football – at last.”
The European Cup would elude Leeds but over his remaining five seasons at Elland Road, Revie would cement the club’s place at the very top of the English game with four more trophies; his side would also be runners-up three times in the league and beaten finalists in three major tournaments.
14. Book of the year
Manchester City captain Tony Book reflects on a decent season –although perhaps not quite as decent as the photograph might suggest: technically, City’s ownership of the three trophies was somewhat fleeting as two days after the Maine Road side won the FA Cup, Leeds’ draw at Liverpool sent the league title over the Pennines.
Book had won personal silverware, too, being named joint-winner (with Derby’s Dave Mackay) of the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year award. Both men were in their thirties but whereas Mackay had been at the top for over a decade, Book had undergone a much stranger journey.
Born in Bath but raised in India while his father served in the infantry, the right-back hadn’t even played league football until the age of 30, when he was taken to Plymouth Argyle by his old Bath City boss Malcolm Allison (who advised him to alter his birth certificate lest the club directors take fright).
Allison soon joined Man City as Joe Mercer’s assistant, and in summer 1966 persuaded the boss to buy an unknown right-back who was now almost 32. A year later, he was made captain; a year after that, he was lifting the league title; a year after that, he was posing for this picture. Had he waited another year, he could have added a European trophy –but that’s another story...
15. Busby bows out
Fabio Cudicini protects his goal for Milan as white-clad Manchester United seek to draw level in the European Cup semi-final. Sir Matt Busby’s team had lost 2-0 three weeks earlier at San Siro, a difference diligently defended at Old Trafford by a Rossoneri side including Cudicini (whose son Carlo would play for Milan, Chelsea and Spurs), wily minder Giovanni Trapattoni and creative genius Gianni Rivera.
As Cudicini punches away from Brian Kidd, ready to pounce for the falling ball is Denis Law, who had more reason than most to want the win: he had been injured for the 1968 final win. “When I missed the European Cup final the year before,” he later recalled, “I thought we’d go on and win it again because we were so good”.
Law, though, was nullified by his marker, former Torino team-mate Roberto Rosato, who didn’t let their friendship stop him delivering the odd sly dig in the ribs –leading Law to lose his rag and knock two of Rosato’s teeth out. That wasn’t the end of the controversy: after Bobby Charlton pulled a goal back in the 70th minute, United claimed Law’s shot had been well over the line before being clawed away, but the officials were unmoved.
It wasn’t the only trouble Busby’s side had had with overseas sides that season: their two-legged Intercontinental Cup clash with Estudiantes was hardly conducive to harmonious relations. The first leg in Buenos Aires ended with a 1-0 home win, Nobby Stiles sent off and Charlton requiring stitches in a head wound – and there were more early baths in a violent second leg at Old Trafford. With the visitors protecting an early goal from Juan Ramon Veron (Seba’s dad), a brawl broke out and the ref dismissed George Best and Jose Hugo Medina. Not exactly a peaceful global gathering, then.
Two days after the Milan game, United finished their league campaign with a 3-2 win over Leicester and Busby moved “upstairs” into the role of general manager… although his tracksuit replacement Wilf McGuinness would last just 18 months before the knight was back in charge.
16. Painting the toon
Newcastle United skipper Bobby Moncur shows off the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup trophy, which he had done so much to help them win over two legs.
Eight days after beating Rangers in the semi, Newcastle welcomed crack Hungarian outfit Ujpesti Dozsa to a packed St James’ Park. After a goalless hour, the breakthrough came from a most unlikely source: centre-back Moncur, who hadn’t scored in his previous 100+ games in the six years since his debut. It took him just eight minutes to double his tally, and Jimmy Scott’s third made the second leg a mere formality.
Or was it? Being Newcastle, they almost managed to throw it away, perhaps not helped by manager Joe Harvey suggesting they already had “one hand on the cup”. By half-time in Budapest they were 2-0 down, but Moncur scored soon after the restart, Danish midfielder Preben “Benny” Arentoft added another to level on the night and local lad Alan Foggon made sure shortly after coming on as sub.
Much to Moncur’s chagrin, he remains the last Newcastle captain to lift a major trophy (with due respect to the Texaco, Anglo-Italian and Intertoto Cups). Moncur himself went on to make more than 350 appearances for the club before moving down the road to Sunderland; in 2015 he was appointed to the Newcastle board.
RECOMMENDED:Joints, smoking physios and dogs on the pitch: 15 unmissable pictures from 1967/68
New features you'd like every day on FourFourTwo.com
featureThu, 08 Dec 2016 17:07:20 +0000Greg Lea661016 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comOpinion: Alexis Sanchez isn't world-class – and here's whyChas Newkey-Burden analyses just how good the Gunners Chilean maestro really isChas Newkey-Burdenhttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/opinion-alexis-sanchez-isnt-world-class-and-heres-why
In his playing days Alan Shearer was incisive, bold and accurate. As a pundit he can be dour and vague. Doled up like a resurrected BHS mannequin, he sometimes seems keener on man-spreading and tedious running jokes than the sort of expert analysis of which he is surely capable.
But when he was talking about Alexis Sanchez on last Saturday’s Match of the Day, he was bang on the money. Despite playful pressing from host Gary Lineker, Shearer refused to agree that the Chilean forward can yet be described as “world-class”.
Alexis is a fine footballer on a cracking run of form. He is currently the top flight’s joint top scorer with Diego Costa, even having played fewer minutes than the Chelsea beast.
Top shot
But Sanchez is also a footballer whose qualities attract hyperbole. Take his hat-trick against West Ham, which prompted the latest tsunami of worship. The Gunners’ opponents were a demoralised bottom-five team, missing eight players through injury, including three-quarters of their first-choice back four.
The Hammers were in a sorry state from the start, and any droplet of confidence they may have taken onto the pitch evaporated when James Collins hobbled off after seven minutes. By half time their fans were booing them loudly and after the final whistle, Slaven Bilic admitted his team had shown zero “dedication” on the day.
His technique, intelligence hard-work knits his sides attacking phases together...https://t.co/SsrA83OrIO #Arsenal #FFT100 pic.twitter.com/M7oawnl5BW FourFourTwo ⚽️ (@FourFourTwo) December 1, 2016
What happened at the London Stadium was much more about West Ham’s weaknesses than Arsenal’s strengths. In truth, the match offered little evidence either way on the question of the Gunners’ title credentials, and even less as to whether the Chilean is world-class. Not that you would have known this in its wake, as pundits and fans alike went all giddy, chirping out a string of sycophantic superlatives.
Shearer scores
Top marks to Shearer for keeping his head when all about him were losing theirs. As fans, we overreact to everything: wins make us feel invincible, defeats make us despair, refereeing decisions make us murderous. That is how it should be, but television pundits must be measured and objective. Someone had to wind it in and the Geordie was right to stick to his guns.
Alexis’s strengths are plentiful:
he labours breathlessly
ploughs through defensive lines
scores spectacular goals
his unpredictability terrifies opponents
while his leadership-through-example can ignite the adrenaline of both team-mates and supporters
His weaknesses are rarely discussed but easy to spot through clear eyes. During his first two seasons with the Gunners his self-confidence spilt over into self-centredness, the very opposite of the team player usually favoured by Arsene Wenger. He was far more interested in receiving the ball than passing it, which led to team-mates in more promising positions being ignored.
When he did pass it was often done with such inaccuracy that possession was quickly surrendered. With so many teammates committed to supporting him up field, this led to dangerous counter-attacks. Last November, data showed that he lost possession more than any other Premier League player.
Chilean fury
Yet his committed, fiery style, and his tendency to play to the gallery meant that from the start his weaknesses were widely overlooked and his strengths exaggerated. It could be argued Alexis is very much a footballer for the era of Brexit and Trump: if you’re easily ‘played’ as a fan, he will appear the answer to your every problem, the only one out there who truly cares. He’d be an effective political campaigner.
Its selfie time for @Alexis_Sanchez who takes home the match ball! #WHUARS pic.twitter.com/7xPBjQ2Q5L BT Sport Football (@btsportfootball) December 3, 2016
None of which is to deny that he is a magnificent player, nor that he has ironed out some of his weaknesses this term. Up front in that new role approximating a false nine, he has weaved his team’s attackers into an exciting unit.
Where he previously disrupted, he now threads; where he once made his team-mates look worse than they are, he now brings the best out in his comrades. He has been directly involved in six of Arsenal's past eight Premier League goals, with five strikes, and one assist.
Class distinction
But does all of this make him world-class? It is perhaps the most cherished description for a footballer, but it is also a vague and subjective one, which is why it can lead to circular discussion.
Sir Alex Ferguson said he managed just four world-class players during his 26 years at Old Trafford: Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Eric Cantona. Just those four in 26 years: Fergie’s list excluded such luminaries as Peter Schmeichel, Jaap Stam, and David Beckham.
How to differentiate the world-class from the brilliant? We are surely looking for sustained excellence in the Champions League and on the international stage.
Class act
With Chile, Alexis has won two successive Copa Americas and was awarded the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player for the 2016 tournament. Many pundits say he carried the rest of the Chilean team on his shoulders, which probably says as much about them as it does him. He also drew praise for his contribution during the 2014 World Cup finals.
However, he has yet to pull up trees in the Champions League for the Gunners. Against Europe’s most elite teams he has generally been average, and when we judge a player’s world-class credentials we surely assess how they showed up in those club matches, rather than a mismatch against a despairing West Ham.
Shearer wasn’t trolling on Match of the Day. He said “Arsenal are a much better team this year because of Alexis”, and added: "If he wins Arsenal the title then he will be [world-class]." This is fair and measured stuff.
Let’s keep the Chilean’s West Ham treble in perspective: if he was world-class before that match then the hat-trick tells us nothing new, but if he wasn't world-class before the hat-trick it takes him very little distance closer to that stature.
More top FourFourTwo features
featureThu, 08 Dec 2016 16:42:59 +0000Gregor MacGregor660792 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comHow we didn't decide the 100 best players in the world 2016: Part 2The second insight into the making of our Top 100 list, speaking to the players who made it. Perhapshttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/how-we-didnt-decide-100-best-players-world-2016-part-2
We've counted down thetop 100 footballersin the world as they stand right at this second. We argued for hours over who should make the final 100 and where exactly they should rank, and asked many players and pundits for their opinions too.
And this video is part two of how we completely did NOT decide on the players who should appear in our list. Please note that no footballers were harmed in the making of this video. (And, *sigh*... obviously, this is a fictional story.) Of particular interest, Spurs fans might want to check out how one of their attacking midfielders uses our player liaison officer, while Leicester City star Jamie Vardy gets a mention too. As well as a certain Real Madrid superstar.
You can find part one of How We Didn't Choose The Best 100 Players In The World here.
And our video of what the person on the street makes of our top 100 (and the odd made-up footballer) here.
Agree with our list? Have your say onTwitter,Facebook,Google+andInstagram. We're also on Snapchat: FourFourTwoUK
FourFourTwo’s Best 100 Football Players in the World 2016
featureThu, 08 Dec 2016 12:54:20 +0000Gregor MacGregor660985 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comThe Best Footballers in the World… in 1966. Who comes top?Had FourFourTwo been around (presumably under a different name) 50 years ago, who would have been in the FFT100? FFTs launch editor Paul Simpson wonders...Paul Simpsonhttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/best-footballers-world-1966-who-comes-top
Trying to decide the 100 best players of 1966 isn’t easy. There was no South American equivalent of the Ballon d’Or and many countries (Argentina, Brazil, Italy and Portugal, to name but four) didn’t select footballers of the year. That said, after poring over the events of an historic 12 months, certain players stand out.
In the lower reaches of this retrospective 100, you would find the usual blend of promising youngsters and fading veterans. The great Ferenc Puskas, who hung up his boots at the age of 39, might have featured on sentimental grounds. The magical, alcoholic Garrincha bowed out for Brazil against Hungary – his 60th cap and his first defeat with the Selecao. The only upside of that loss for Brazil was that a 19-year-old Cruzeiro midfielder namdTostao, who would entrance millions in the ‘beautiful team’ of 1970, scored their consolation goal.
Another 19-year old to make his mark was lanky midfielder Johan Cruyff, whose 16 goals powered Ajax to the Dutch title. Cruyff was not an entirely unknown quantity – he was on the scoresheet as Ajax overwhelmed Bill Shankly’s Liverpool 5-1 in a foggy European Cup match in December – but, outside Germany, few had heard of 20-year-old Gerd Muller, a short, ungainly but nifty centre-forward whose goalscoring instincts seemed truly clairvoyant.
Muller was prolific enough, in his first Bundesliga season with Bayern Munich, to earn a call-up to the Mannschaft, although he didn’t make the final 22. Eight years later, his goal in Munich would crush Cruyff’s hopes of winning the World Cup.
There are countless players above the lower reaches but below the top ten, which means it's probably best to group them by trade: defenders (including goalkeepers), midfielders and forwards (wingers and strikers).
NEXT Which keepers and defenders get the nod?The boys at the back
Gordon Banks’s idol Lev Yashin could still turn it on in goal, as he showed with a stupendous save against Hungary in the World Cup quarter-finals. Ladislao Mazurkiewicz – Mazurka to teammates – was already showing the quality for Uruguay and Penarol, who won the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup (against Real Madrid), that would prompt Yashin to anoint him as his successor.
The changing nature of the defender’s role was reflected in the World Cup. While England’s Jack Charlton and West Germany’s Willie Schulz epitomised the best of the old-school destroyer, Russia’s captain Valery Voronin was a stopper who, with the intelligence and technique to play on either flank, pointed towards a more creative future.
One pioneer of the new style was Velibor Vasovic who, as centre-back in the Partisan Belgrade that reached the 1966 European Cup final, impressed Ajax’s coach Rinus Michels with his willingness to turn defence into attack. Vasovic, who gave Partisan a shock lead against Real Madrid, would later help Michels perfect Total Football.
A decade after they had been pioneered by Hungary and Brazil, attacking full-backs were still in vogue. Giacinto Facchetti raided forwarded as an auxiliary attacker in Inter and Italy’s catenaccio system, and the ability of England’s full-backs George Cohen and Ray Wilson to make overlapping runs helped persuade Alf Ramsey that he could ease wingers out of his side.
The men in the middle
In midfield, intensity was beginning to be as influential as natural talent, and 1966 produced its share of tireless heroes. The tragicomic vicissitudes of Alan Ball’s managerial career have obscured his qualities as a player; a master of the short game, always available to collect a pass out of defence and find a team-mate, Ball was good enough to break the British transfer record in 1966, when Everton paid £110,000 for him.
As good as Ball was, Real Madrid’s Pirri was arguably better. Though he – and Spain – disappointed at the World Cup, he was the coach on the pitch in the Real Madrid side that won its sixth European Cup in May. A former centre-forward, inside-forward and right-half, Pirri was the ideal central midfielder: energetic, brave, intelligent, good in the air and exceptional on the ball.
Yet 1966 was also blessed with its fair share of artists. Uruguay and Penarol playmaker Pedro Rocha was so gifted he could do whatever he wanted with the ball. And let’s not forget Antonio Rattin, captain of Argentina and Boca, whose red card against England – for nothing at all or consistent dissent, depending on your politics – has overshadowed the fact that he was described thusly by Bobby Moore: “Powerful, fine skill, good appreciation of what was going on around him. Knew the game inside out.”
In 1966, apart from a few Italian film directors like Pier Paolo Pasolini, there were no football hipsters as such. Yet in retrospect, the hipster’s idol would probably have been Andriy Biba, Soviet player of the year in 1966. Biba fulfilled the Bobby Charlton role as an advanced attacking midfielder in Victor Maslow's Dynamo Kyiv side, who may well have invented the 4-4-2 formation.
NEXT Which wingers get picked?The wide boys
Although England’s World Cup winners were hailed as ‘Wingless Wonders’, 1966 was actually a kind of golden age for wizards on the wing.
Real Madrid’s European Cup winners had Paco Gento on the left (still effective as he turned 33) opposite Amancio,who was so tricky on the right he would, if playing today, inevitably be nicknamed Harry Potter. In Italy, Mario Corso, aka ‘God’s left foot’, defied critics who accused him of “hiding in the grass” and was instrumental as Helenio Herrera’s Inter won their third scudetto in four years.
And in Britain, wingers flourished. 19-year-old George Best was dubbed ‘O Quinto Beatle’ by the Portuguese media after scoring twice in the European Cup against Benfica in March. In Scotland, Jimmy Johnstone’s ability to jink through defences had won Celtic’s first Scottish title in 12 years. By the end of 1966, the future Lisbon Lions had cruised into the last eight of the European Cup.
The forwards
Up front, even in an off-year when he was quite literally kicked out of the World Cup and Santos underperformed, Pele remained one of the world’s best forwards. Geoff Hurst came joint-14th in the Ballon d’Or voting, scant reward for becoming the first player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final (a feat unmatched in the subsequent half-century). Even more remarkably, he wasn’t in the tournament’s all-star XI, losing out to West Germany’s Uwe Seeler,who had returned to form after tearing an Achilles tendon a year earlier.
On as many Ballon d’Or points as Hurst was Georgi Asparuhov, reductively tagged ‘The Bulgarian George Best’ because he was talented, good looking and drove an Alfa Romeo. A skilful inside-forward or centre-forward, Asparuhov scored Bulgaria’s only goal at the World Cup and, the year before, had inspired Levski Sofia to victory against Benfica.
Other strikers in contention would include: Jose Torres, who, despite playing alongside Eusebio for club and country, was one of the most effective centre-forwards in the game; Nantes’ hero Philippe Gondet, Europe’s most prolific league scorer in 1966 with 36 goals in 37 matches; and Belgian idol Paul van Himst – tracked by Barcelona and Real Madrid as the top scorer in an Anderlecht side in the midst of a record-breaking streak of five successive league titles.
All these players would have deserved their places in the upper reaches of FFT’s Best 100 Players of 1966. But who would make the Top 10?
NEXT The final selection10. Silvio Marzolini (Boca Juniors and Argentina)
The only South American in the World Cup all-star team, Silvio Marzolini is arguably the best Argentinian left-back of all-time. At 26, he looked elegant even when he was tackling and loved to run with the ball – he rarely overran it either, instinctively sensing when the right pass was on. In 1966, he was slightly better than Inter and Italy legend Giacinto Facchetti and might be more highly rated if he hadn’t rejected lucrative offers to stay at his beloved Boca Juniors.
9. Helmut Haller (Bologna and West Germany)
Bologna’s Helmut Haller had moved to Serie A before the introduction of the Bundesliga and its consequent economic miracle for previously impoverished German players. He scored six during the World Cup, including the opening goal in the final. Effective, combative and histrionic when tackled, Haller inspired some to say that he’d learned to play football at Bologna and done the rest of his training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
8. Ferenc Bene (Ujpesti Dozsa and Hungary)
Bene is now largely forgotten outside Hungary but he was a brilliant individualist, versatile enough to play anywhere up front. He scored four goals at the World Cup, and during Hungary’s 3-1 victory against Brazil (champions of 1958 and 1962) he and Florian Albert played some of the finest head tennis in the history of the game.
7. Gordon Banks (Leicester City and England)
As deserving of a place in the top 10 is Gordon Banks, whose nickname ‘Banks of England’ is a poignant reminder of an age when we implicitly trusted the banking system – and English goalkeepers. Banks’ impressive form at the 1966 World Cup is all the more remarkable considering the fact he'd missed the first nine games of the season after breaking his wrist while diving at a Northampton player’s feet during a friendly.
6. Mario Coluna (Benfica and Portugal)
Portugal captain Mario Colunagwas only 13th in the voting for the Ballon d’Or. Yet, blessed with enormous strategic intelligence, Coluna was as influential, at inside-left and left-half, for Portugal and Benfica as his fellow Mozambican, Eusebio.
5. Florian Albert (Ferencvaros and Hungary)
Hungarian centre-forward Florian Albert was blessed – or cursed – with exceptional game intelligence, as he never tired of telling his coaches. Deadly in the air and lethal on the ground, he won a standing ovation at Goodison Park for a dazzling performance in Hungary’s 3-1 win over Brazil. Selected as a striker in the World Cup all-star team, Albert was also joint-top scorer in the 1965/66 European Cup.
4. Bobby Moore (West Ham United and England)
England’s World Cup-winning captain has been so lionised it’s hard to see the player behind the legend. Yet as astute an observer as Matt Busby marvelled at his game intelligence: “He could see where the game was heading when the ball was 80 yards away – it cannot be explained unless clairvoyance has something to do with it.”
3. Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich and West Germany)
Elegant, adroit and with a composure that belied his age – he was only 20 when he scored his first World Cup goal, against Switzerland – Franz Beckenbauer was voted the best young player of the tournament. Almost as inspired in attack as defence, he single-handedly changed the tactics of German football, establishing a longstanding national preference for a libero - although few were as imperious as the Kaiser.
NEXT Portugal's goal machine vs England's creator-in-chief2. Eusebio (Benfica and Portugal), 1. Bobby Charlton (Manchester United and England)
Who was the world’s best footballer in 1966? The obvious candidates were great rivals and good friends, Bobby Charlton and Eusebio, famed almost as much for their integrity as their conspicuous genius. They shared, too, certain pathos. As a survivor of the Munich air disaster, it was easy to understand why Charlton might look haunted. The source of what Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano called Eusebio’s “sad eyes” remains more of a mystery.
As the creative linchpin of Sir Alf Ramsey’s World Cup winners, Charlton was probably the most influential player in that tournament, even though Eusebio, who scored nine goals as Portugal reached the semi-final, won the Golden Boot.
Neither player was perfect: at his best a player of fearful drive and marksmanship, Charlton sometimes struck passes which awed crowds but didn’t change the game. Eusebio ran in zigzags and scored goals from absurd angles but didn’t really like mixing it. During the 1966 semi-final against England, Portugal skipper Mario Coluna shook his fist angrily at his team-mate who hung back out of harm’s way.
Yet with Pele sidelined by injury, they were the best in the world in 1966: Charlton was voted European Footballer of the Year with 81 points, one ahead of Eusebio, the 1965 winner.
So if FourFourTwo had existed in 1966, its top 100 would almost certainly have started with Charlton, followed by Eusebio.
FourFourTwo's Best 100 Football players in the world 2016
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featureThu, 08 Dec 2016 12:08:11 +0000Greg Lea660023 at http://www.fourfourtwo.com